Far Beyond the Stars (episode)
Sisko has a dream-vision of being a black science-fiction writer fighting racism in the 1950s. Summary Joseph Sisko, Captain Benjamin Sisko's father, has left Earth for the first time to visit his son on Deep Space 9, but his timing couldn't be worse. Although the Federation is in firm control of the station, the Cardassian border is still a risky place for Federation ships to patrol. In particular, the [[USS Cortéz|USS Cortéz]] has recently been destroyed, and even a six-hour search by the ''Defiant'' failed to discover any survivors. That means Captain Quentin Swofford – a man Sisko knew well – is dead, and Benjamin is distraught. As he discusses the news with his father, however, Sisko is distracted and puzzled when he sees a strange man walk past his office dressed in 1950s Earth clothing. Dax, standing right outside in Ops, insists she didn't see anyone, which only makes it a greater puzzle. Later, when walking down a corridor with Kasidy, Sisko is again confused when a baseball player walks past and calls, "Hey, Benny! Catch the game?" Again, Kasidy is sure she didn't see anyone. When Sisko follows the man through a door, he finds himself suddenly in the middle of a busy New York street and is almost immediately hit by a taxi. Doctor Bashir examines him and finds unusual synaptic potentials -- his neural patterns look like they did when Sisko was having visions the year before. (DS9: "Rapture") When Sisko takes a PADD to examine the data for himself, he finds himself instead looking at a copy of Galaxy Magazine at a New York newsstand. What's more, Sisko -- or rather, Benny Russell -- feels completely at home on this street, and when Albert Macklin comes around the corner they walk off together to the office. The people Benny knows at the office and meets on the street are similar to the people Sisko knows on the station and meets in space. They sound the same, and look at least somewhat similar, but they are not the same people. Albert is not Miles O'Brien, and Kay is not Kira Nerys, but they feel awfully familiar. Most of this story is told from their perspective. When Benny and Albert arrive at Incredible Tales -- the science fiction magazine for which they work -- they find Herbert Rossoff and Douglas Pabst engaged in "The Battle of the Doughnuts, Round 28" (as Kay Eaton describes it). Kay herself has been experimenting with White Rose Redi-Tea ("A pitcher of plain water becomes a pitcher of ice tea") -- a concept her husband, Julius finds appalling. Albert is, as always, looking for matches to light his pipe. When the bickering and general bustle ebbs enough, Roy Ritterhouse comes in bearing a stack of sci-fi sketches to distribute to the pool of writers for the next month's stories. Benny is particularly taken with a drawing of a space station -- basically a circle with pylons at 120 degree intervals, and "USAF DS/9" stenciled around the edge. He takes the sketch and offers to create an appropriate story to accompany it. Trouble starts, however, when Pabst announces a picture of the staff will appear in the next issue, and moreover suggests that Kay and Benny "sleep late" the morning it's taken -- the public needn't know that women and blacks are writing Incredible Tales along with the white men. Herbert sarcastically quips about the dangers of "a Negro with a typerwiter" and Benny is angry, but Pabst holds firm. There will be no picture of Kay and no picture of Benny. As Benny leaves the office that night (Incredible Tales is located in the Arthur Trill building), the space station sketch is caught in a breeze and lands under the shoe of Burt Ryan -- a cop with an attitude. He and his partner, Kevin Mulkahey are suspicious of a janitor (as they perceive Benny) dressed in a nice suit, but give back the drawing with "This time you're getting off with a warning. Next time you won't be so lucky." Then as he's almost home he hears a Preacher on a street corner who seems to be speaking directly to Benny. "Write those words, Brother Benny!" the preacher advises -- write the words of the "God of the spirits of the prophets." With all these events fresh in his mind, Benny Russell sits down before his typerwiter with the space station picture in front of him and begins to write. "Captain Benjamin Sisko sat looking out the window..." Even as he writes the words Benny sees his own reflection in the window -- only he has on a curious uniform instead of a shirt and tie and his glasses are gone. He presses on with his story into the night. When the story is finally finished some days later he takes it to Cassie -- his girlfriend -- at the diner where she waits tables. He also visits with Willie Hawkins, a charming baseball player, and Jimmy, a street kid. Fresh after hearing Willie tell how white people wouldn't want him living in their neighborhoods, Benny hears Jimmy's skepticism about the new story. What's more, Jimmy is trying to pawn a watch he "found" and Benny's cautions about him getting in trouble don't seem to do any good. On the other hand, the entire writing staff of Incredible Tales loves the story, which Benny has titled "Deep Space Nine." In fact, it's the best thing Pabst's secretary (Darlene Kursky) has ever read. Unfortunately, Pabst himself is unwilling to print the story. "It's not believable," he insists, since it features a Negro space station captain for a hero. Jimmy isn't remotely surprised, and Cassie suggests it may be a sign he should stop writing and go into the resturant business with her -- owning and running the diner. When Willie comes in and grabs Benny by the shoulder, he's surprised to see ridges on his forehead and strange clothing. He jumps off the stool in surprise, but when he looks up again it's just Willie, asking if Benny had seen the game. Benny leaves, troubled by the vision. That evening, he encounters the same Preacher again. "Walk with the prophets, brother Benny!" he insists. "Write the words that will lead us out of the darkness and onto the path of righteousness." Benny rushes home and sits down before his typewriter once again, concentrating so hard he even forgets about his date with Cassie. She finds him sleeping with a stack of pages in his hand -- a new Ben Sisko story -- and tries to get him to relax by taking a "spin around the dance floor" in the living room. He's startled once again when he instead sees himself dancing in a strange room and to hear "Cassie" talking about "the Dominion." He flashes back and forth between his living room and the space station -- seeing things from his own story. As Sisko questions his own sanity, Pabst insists he's certifiable -- he's written six sequels to the "Deep Space Nine" story Pabst already refused to publish. Albert makes a suggestion that could salvage everything though: make the story (at least the first story) a dream. If a poor Negro were dreaming of such a future, the story might work, Pabst grudgingly admits, and Benny agrees that anything would be better than not publishing the story at all. Even as Benny and Cassie are celebrating getting the story published, however, another tragedy strikes. They encounter the Preacher, who warns, "the path of the Prophets sometimes leads into darkness and pain", just as gunshots ring through the air. Benny rushes forward and finds that Dickson and Mulkahey have shot Jimmy. When he tries to fight his way to him, the two cops begin to beat him up, and Benny sees ridges on one of their necks and long thin ears on the other's face. He's badly beaten, but on the day his story is finally published he makes his way to the office anyway (with Cassie's encouragement). There he only finds more bad news. The publisher of Incredible Tales, Pabst reveals, felt the issue didn't meet their "usual high standards" -- he didn't like it. Worse, Benny is fired. That becomes "the straw that broke the camel's back," and Benny falls apart. "You can pulp the story but you can't destroy the idea. It's ''real!"'' he cries as he collapses to the floor. As he's carted away in an ambulance, Benny finds the preacher sitting beside him and sees himself in a strange uniform. "Who am I?" he asks quietly. "You're the dreamer," the Preacher answers him, "and the dream." Captain Sisko wakes up in the infirmary with Kasidy, Jake, Joseph, and Bashir standing over him, happy to see him awake. He was unconscious for only a few minutes, and Julian reports that his neural patterns are returning to normal. As his father gets ready to leave, Sisko commits to stay on DS9 and keep fighting. He stares out the window wondering if Benny Russell is really the one doing the dreaming, and sees himself wearing Benny's clothes in his reflection. Memorable Quotes "Wishing never changed a damn thing" :- Benny (Benjamin Sisko) "Oh! She's got a worm in her belly!.... oh thats disgusting." :- Darlene (Jadzia Dax) "Calm down dear boy. We're writers, not Vikings." :- Julius Eaton (Julian Bashir; see also I'm a doctor, not a...) "You're the dreamer, and the dream." :- Preacher (Joseph Sisko) "All right, friends and neighbors, let's see what Uncle Roy brought you today." :- Roy (General Martok) "Well I got news for you... today or a hundred years from now don't make a bit of difference -- as far as they're concerned, we'll always be niggers." :- Jimmy (Jake Sisko) "If the world's not ready for a woman writer -- imagine what would happen if it learned about a Negro with a typewriter -- run for the hills! It's the end of civilization!" :- Herbert (Quark) "Herb's been angry ever since the day Joseph Stalin died..." :- Douglas Pabst (Odo) "I like robots." :- Albert (Miles O'Brien) "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith." :- Joseph Sisko, quoting from the Bible (2 Timothy 4:7) "Somewhere out there, far beyond all those distant stars...Benny Russell is dreaming about us." :- Benjamin Sisko Background Information * The drawing titled "Honeymoon on Andoris" did not have a title in the original script, but the picture (which depicts a giant praying mantis scaling a skyscraper to find a beautiful woman at the top) is a parody of King Kong. The title given it is obviously a reference to Andoria. * When Benny enters the office on the day his story is to be published, Kay and Julius are discussing their story and Kay suggests "It Came from Outer Space," to which Julius responds positively and adds, "I wish I'd thought of it!" He is humorously referencing a 1953 film of the same name, which was written by famous sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury, referred to in this episode as one of Galaxy's writers. * During a scene where some of the Incredible Tales staff has an argument, Julius Eaton (Julian Bashir) tells them to be civilized and adds, "We're writers, not Vikings." This is a reference to the infamous "I'm a doctor, not a..." series of quotes. * In a later scene, Benny is in the office discussing his story when his world and that of Sisko begin to merge. This begins with Darlene (Dax) referring to the woman with a worm in her belly, after which K.C. Hunter becomes Kira as she compliments "this Major of yours" and Ritterhouse (Martok) says he wants to sketch the Cardassians in Benny's story. J.G. Hertzler would have commented instead on the Klingons and been dressed in his Martok garb, but this was deemed to be unnecessary. As it is, Michael Dorn (Worf), Jeffrey Combs (Weyoun), and Marc Alaimo (Dukat) appear in Sisko's vision wearing their usual make-up at various points for the same effect. *The working title of this episode was The Cold and Distant Stars, virtually the same working title as was used for "Past Tense, Part I". *The original script had Jake Sisko, rather than his father, traveling back in time. However, as with many episodes, Jake's part was reduced because Cirroc Lofton was unavailable. *The Galaxy magazine cover art is a matte painting of Starbase 11, which was seen in the original series episode "Court Martial." Additionally "Court Martial" is the featured story in the magazine. *The Galaxy Magazine staff were based on various real-life genre authors, with Albert, for instance, intended as an homage to Isaac Asimov and K.C. as a version of C.L. Moore. *All of the major actors starred in the episode, with the exception of Andrew J. Robinson, Max Grodénchik and Casey Biggs. This episode is notable as all of the series regular cast and many of the recurring guest cast appear in different roles, all without prosthetic makeup. *Jake's character Jimmy uses the racially charged word "nigger" in this episode, in reference to the fact that black people in his view will never get into space except to shine white people's shoes. This is the first (and only) use of the "N-word" in the Star Trek universe. *The vision of the 1950s was sent to Sisko by the Prophets, although no one knows what they were trying to tell him other than fight the good fight. *Sisko's visions continue in "Shadows and Symbols", where Casey Biggs appears as Doctor Wykoff. *Although Rene Auberjonois, Armin Shimerman and Colm Meaney appear in this episode, their regular characters Odo, Quark and Miles O'Brien do not. *Despite the fact he made a total of 282 Star Trek appearances, this is the only time that Michael Dorn appears on Star Trek as a human. He did appear, without his Klingon makeup, as a Boraalan in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Homeward". *Additionally, this is the only episode in DS9 where Marc Alaimo (Dukat), Aron Eisenberg (Nog), Armin Shimerman (Quark), Rene Auberjonois (Odo), and Jeffrey Combs (Weyoun) appear without make-up. (Rene Auberjonois appeared as a human in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and Marc Alaimo appeared as a human in TNG: "Time's Arrow") *This episode is novelized in ''Far Beyond the Stars''. Links and References Main Cast *Avery Brooks as Benjamin Sisko and Benny Russell *Rene Auberjonois as Douglas Pabst *Michael Dorn as Worf and Willie Hawkins *Terry Farrell as Jadzia Dax and Darlene Kursky *Cirroc Lofton as Jake Sisko and Jimmy *Colm Meaney as Albert Macklin *Armin Shimerman as Herbert Rossoff *Alexander Siddig as Julian Bashir and Julius Eaton *Nana Visitor as Kira Nerys and Kay Eaton (aka "K.C. Hunter") Guest Stars *Jeffrey Combs as Kevin Mulkahey *Marc Alaimo as Burt Ryan *J.G. Hertzler as Roy Ritterhouse *Aron Eisenberg as News Vendor *Penny Johnson as Kasidy Yates and Cassie *Brock Peters as Joseph Sisko and The Preacher References 1953; "Amsterdam News"; baseball; Baldwin, James; "Bible"; Bradbury, Ray; Cardassia; Cardassians; cent; Christ, Jesus; Communism; ''Cortéz'', USS; cruller; "Deep Space Nine"; ''Defiant'', USS; Dominion; doughnut; DuBois, W.E.B.; England; Fascism; flying saucer; frank; From Here to Eternity; "Galaxy Magazine"; Gnome Press; God; Harlem; Heinlein, Robert A.; Hughes, Langston; Hurston, Zora Neale; "Incredible Tales"; Jackson (Mrs.); Japanese Zero; Jem'Hadar fighter; Lancaster, Burt; Manhattan; Mars; Martians; "Native Son"; Negro; New York City; New York Giants; Parker, Charlie; Pearl Harbor; pinko; "Please, Take Me With You"; Prophets; "Puppet Masters, The"; red; robot; rocket ship; sauerkraut; science fiction; scrambled eggs; Rendezvous, The; Sisko's; Snyder, Duke; squadron; Stalin, Josef; steak and eggs; Stone (publisher); Sturgeon, Theodore; Swofford, Quentin; tater; tea; television; typewriter; US Navy; Viking; Wells, H.G.; White Rose Redi-Tea; Wright, Richard; Xhosa External Links *"Far Beyond the Stars" at Star Trek: Hypertext Category:DS9 episodes de:Jenseits der Sterne nl:Far Beyond the Stars